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Chapter 9

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(February)

Bella smiled as her students filed into the classroom after coming back from lunch. With it being valentines day, she could tell they were excited to pass out their valentines before having their party. She and the other second grade teachers were glad the party would be held in the schools cafeteria and was to include all the second graders instead of just doing it room by room. So far things had been going smooth.

"Ok class… 1-2-3, eyes on me please. I want your voices off and your listening ears on please." She waited a beat so the kids could settle. "Here's what we're going to do. I want you all to make your way to your cubbyholes and get your boxes then set them on the corner of your desks. When that's done, I want a hand in the air and you sitting in your seat quiet please."

She smiled when her students complied without fuss and within two minutes all 18 of her students' hands were in the air. Not a sound was heard as they waited for instruction. "Well done. Now… this is how we'll do this. I want the girls to go first. Pass your valentines out and then take a seat. You have five minutes. Go." She nodded her head and the seven girls in her class went to work passing out their valentines. The same was done for the boys and before they knew it, Bella gave them permission to open their boxes and look at their valentines.

"I don't know how you do it Ms. Swan." A voice said from the doorway.

Bella smiled and turned to see the principle Mrs. Johnson standing there. "It's easy. Just engage them, make it a game and they learn. It also helps that these are all good kids."

The principle smiled. "You have someone in the parking lot for you." She said. "Usually I don't interfere, however… I felt that you should come and see what's being done to your car." She said with mirth in her eyes.

"Oh… um… ok." She poked her head into the room next to hers. "Mary, I need to go out to my car quick. Can you watch my class please?"

"Sure, your kids are always good, Bella." It made her smile to hear it. She must be doing something right.

Bella gasped when she walked out to the teachers parking lot. The hood of her candy apple red jeep liberty- her baby- was covered in red and white long stemmed roses to form the shape of a baby white dragon curled up inside of a heart. Standing against the passenger side was her boyfriend of a month with a bouquet of yellow, pink and orange roses. His left foot was propped against the tire and his lips were curved into a playful smirk.

"Surprise." Jared said in way of greeting.

Bella couldn't keep the smile off her face as she rushed into his arms. "This is so sweet. Jared, you didn't have to do this!"

"I wanted to do it. A few of your co workers helped me too and the principle okayed for me to be on the property. I wanted to wait until your lunch break, but she said it was close enough now." Jared said with a quick kiss to her lips. "You look beautiful today."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, you know." She teased.

He smirked. "It got me everywhere last night."

Bella smacked his arm. "I have to get back. This was so sweet. It made my day. Thank you."

"Half of this was Sam's idea. He said to show up with the bouquet. But… I wanted to go a step further." He said nodding to the hood of the car. "I got a picture of it too… so if you want to move them, you can."

Bella handed him the flowers back and giggled when he frowned. "Smile so I can take a picture." she explained. "I want one for myself with you standing beside your artwork."

Jared proceeded to give her, what she dubbed a panty dropping smile, and kissed her nearly senseless before releasing her. She made it back just in time to put her roses into some water before it was time to walk her class to the cafeteria. She couldn't erase the smile on her lips for anything and her fellow teachers took note of it.

The questions from her curious co workers were ignored for the rest of the day as the time for the bells to ring drew closer. Before she knew it, Bella moved out to the parking lot, ready to head home to her apartment and relax before her date with her boyfriend. She missed the lanky figure sitting on the hood of a silver Volvo parked beside her.

"Hello Isabella." Edward smirked when she stopped mid stride only a few feet from him.

Bella sighed, her amazing mood dampening. "Oh, I didn't see you Edward. What do you want?"

"I came to see if you had thought anymore about my offer. I still want you back." He told her. He was so sure she would have given in by now.

Bella rolled her eyes and pretended to dig through her purse. She found her phone, speed dialed her brother and pretended to bring it out of her purse while looking for her keys. She was careful to never show him the face of the phone. "I need you to leave me alone Edward. I have a boyfriend already and I'm happy with Jared."

"Yes… the native. He can't give you too much, Isabella. I can give you money, stability, clothing, jewelry. You'd never have to work again. And you'd be the mother to my children- the children you always told me you wanted."

Bella sneered. "Like I ever wanted money or jewels. I don't have use for fancy dinner gowns, I don't wear layers of make up and I like to work. As far as being a mother, Edward… that will come in it's own time. I'm happy right now with what I have and Jared doesn't try to change any of that. I just want to go home to my boyfriend, now Edward. Get out of my way."

He frowned and grabbed a hold of her arm by the crook of her elbow. "Have you fucked him yet? Have you told him where you got so good at sucking dick, Isabella? Does he know that you loved being put on your knees in front of me?" He hissed.

"Let. Me. Go. You're hurting me Edward." She hissed rising above his childish games. Bella heard a car approaching in the background and shook her phone. She couldn't help but think of the lyrics 'My boyfriends back and you're gonna be in trouble'.

Anything he'd started to say got interrupted by skidding tires and an engine being killed. "You called your brother?" He sneered, squeezing her arm tighter.

Bella huffed trying hard to hide her grimace of pain. "Get off of me Edward. I'm tired of your stupid games. Any other insults you feel the need to throw at me can be said in front of my brother and my boyfriend." She growled trying to yank her arm from his grasp.

Paul, Sam and Jared were livid as they took a menacing step in Edwards direction. "I would do what she asks." Jared growled. His good mood from earlier in the day had been ruined when he heard Bella telling her ex to yet again leave her alone after she had called Paul's phone.

Edward glared at him for a moment before shoving Bella backwards. If not for Paul waiting to catch her, she would have been knocked down to the waiting concrete. It was a stupid move on his part since Jared saw it for what it was- an attempt to cause bodily harm to Bella. With one well aimed swing, Jared's fist connected with the soft flesh of Edward's jaw.

"That's a warning. Next time I won't let you walk away." Jared snapped when Edward spat blood out of his mouth as well as a loose tooth. He shrugged Sam's hand off of his shoulder before turning his attention to Bella's arm. The marks from Edward's grip had already started darkening due to how easy Bella bruised.

"I'm ok. I promise you, I'm ok." She told him before kissing his cheek.

Paul turned his attention towards Edward then. "You can expect to hear from my father. I don't think he'll take to the fact that you've yet again put bruises on my sisters' arm." He sneered.

Edward was beyond livid. Under normal circumstances, he would have walked away. But in his desperation to win Bella over, he opened his mouth without thinking. "What father Paul? Your father walked away from you when you were only three years old. He left you with a mother who had to work so much that she never had the time for you. And look at what's become of you. Layered in tattoos with no future for yourself." He sneered.

"Paul… walk away. Come on bro… just walk away." Sam tried. He knew Edward wanted to push buttons and talking about the way Paul had been abandoned by his father was one of them.

It was Bella, though, who surprised them all by marching up to Edward and landing a solid right hook to his nose. "Do not talk about my brother like that again Edward Anthony Cullen. You may not like him, but you will refrain from speaking of things to which you have no knowledge. Paul is my brother. Maybe not by blood, but he's still my brother and you will watch how you treat him. Family's everything to me, so to insult him is to insult me." She growled.

"He'll never amount to anything Bella! He'll do nothing but drag you down, just like the rest of your family! Come back to me. I can give you everything." Edward tried again.

Bella glared. "That man, has more going for him right now than you ever will in your god awful, pathetic excuse of a life. So what if he's covered in tattoos? He owns a tattoo shop! He has friends and family who love him! He has a woman standing behind him who loves him for who he is, and he'd never betray her with another woman in his bed. Who can you say stands behind you? Your mother? Your sister? I'd rather take my chances with Lucifer himself than have them behind me." She hissed.

"Bella… please… I love-" Bella's glare quieted his protests.

"Just leave me alone. You come near me again and it won't be Paul I speed dial. It will be the police. And don't think that you can sweet talk the Port Angeles PD out of a restraining order. All I'd have to do would be to bring in witnesses and drop my fathers name." She warned. With that she shoved her way past him to her car, calling Jared to get in too.

Paul and Sam shook their heads while Jared simply stared opened mouthed for a few minutes before following his girlfriend. Edward stood speechless in the deserted parking lot while Bella and her friends left for home and work.

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Jared grinned as they made their way into his apartment. He had never been more turned on than he had been watching Bella defend Paul. He'd been shocked and awed when he watched her ire raise enough to throw a proper right hook before going off on a tangent. He hoped he never had to see that side of her coming after him.

He couldn't help but to tease her in the car the entire way home. Light, lingering caresses to her inner wrist, aimless trails up her inner thigh while she drove had her nearly shaking with tension. It built enough that she wanted to use the elevator by the time she'd parked outside the apartment building.

"You're so evil." She mused when she curled up beside him on his couch.

He grinned. "I am huh?" He snickered before handing her a shot glass filled with her favorite vodka.

"You are. Don't you know by now it's dangerous to tease me? I always get pay back." She whispered, her lips barely touching the shell of his ear.

Jared suppressed a shudder. "You do huh?" He grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, trapping her against his side.

Bella giggled and nodded her head. "Yeah, I do." She preened before trailing kisses from his shoulder to his jaw.

"Well, Ms. Swan, what do you intend to do to me? I'm at your mercy." He whispered against her lips.

She grinned and placed her glass down on the coffee table before moving to straddle his waist. "The shirt needs to go." She muttered before bunching it up and smiling when Jared leaned forward to let her remove it.

Every time she saw him without a shirt was like the first time all over again. Her eyes were drawn to the nipple piercing, her fingertips brushing over it in a feather light caress. Her hunger for him grew as she started to trace random tattoos he had inked into his skin.

Jared moaned and leaned forward to capture her lips with his. He smirked when his hands ghosted down her back to rest on the swell of her pert bottom before grinding their hips together. He moaned again when Bella carded her fingers through his short hair before grazing her nails against the skin at the back of his neck. The last time they'd had a chance to be this intimate had been the week after New Years- their first time sleeping together. Once school had started again and businesses had re-opened for regular hours, things became hectic for the couple. They'd had to make due with a few heated kisses or lingering touches; it had been beyond torture for them. Bella felt determined to solve that problem now as she ground herself against Jared's thigh.

"I want you Jay." She whimpered when he pulled away to start unbuttoning her shirt.

"Yeah? How bad babe?" He purred, his eyes blazing with desire as he pulled her shirt from her shoulders.

He left her in just a black lace bra with a heart charm dangling from the center of the fabric. The sales associate in Victoria's Secret had told her that little charms such as the one she had there now were a big hit with boyfriends and husbands. Bella mused that she was 100% right.

Bella smirked when she saw his eyes widen some. She moved to stand in front of him before turning to show off her inked backside- something that always amazed him as well as turned him on too. With a playful gleam in her eyes as she looked over her shoulder at him, she started to undo her slacks and slowly strip them from her body. Jared mused that if she'd failed as a teacher, she would have made one hell of a dancer.

"Touch me Jared." Bella purred when her slacks hit the floor. She was left in her black lace bra and a matching black lace thong that had all the blood in Jared's body pumping through him to his now throbbing dick.

Jared took in a sharp breath before pulling her back into his lap with her back to his chest. His left hand gathered her hair and moved it over her shoulder before dropping to pinch a taut nipple through the lace material of her bra.

"Like that baby?" He purred when her back arched.

Bella mewled before reaching back to pull his face closer so she could kiss him. She loved his kisses. The way his lips felt against hers was nearly enough to drive her to orgasm alone. "Please… touch me baby." She whined.

Jared's free hand moved down her body to cup her cloth covered mound- already soaked in anticipation. "Damn baby, you're so wet for me already." He moaned before sucking on the sensitive flesh of her neck just below her ear.

"Jay!" Bella gasped when she felt his fingers running up and down her slit. "Don't tease me please! I need you." She whined.

He inhaled deep at her confession, his lips and teeth working in tandem to mark her neck. He loved the way she felt against him, writhing in pleasure on his lap as his fingers worked back and forth into her soaked core. "Does it feel good babe? Damn but your so fucking sexy like this…. All needy for my cock." He growled.

Bella's hips started to rock against his hand as her head rested back on his shoulder. "Want you… please… don't make me beg… please." She whined.

Jared smirked, loving the way she rocked against his hand. "Ride my fingers baby… you look so good like this." He whispered in her ear.

She was just there, he knew. He could feel her walls begin to spasm as her orgasm drew closer. It took all the willpower he possessed to stop what he'd been doing and move her off of his lap. Before she could protest too much, he gathered into his arms and made his way to the bedroom.

His room itself was her personal favorite room in his apartment. It was all male and so him in her opinion. A California king size bed with a handsome cedar wood head and foot board dominated one side of the room. The matching cedar dresser and night stand were the only other pieces of furniture left in the room save for the flat screen TV resting on his dresser. The sheets on the bed were black and red and the comforter was solid black as well. Bella couldn't help but grin whenever she saw it.

"Jared, I love your room." She muttered in between kisses to his lips and jaw.

He shifted her weight before kicking the door closed with his foot. "You tell me that every time you see it. And if it helps matters, Leah and Emily tell me all the time that I need to tell you to add your own little touches here and there. I guess they know by now you spend every other night in my bed anyway." He said with a cocky grin.

"Sounds like them." Bella mused with a shake of her head. She squealed when he threw her onto the bed. She grinned when he crawled over her body with a predatory look in his eyes.

"Hi baby." He purred.

Bella worried her bottom lip and moved her arms to twine around his neck. "Hey."

"I want you." He moaned as his hips rocked into hers.

She gasped when she felt his jean clad dick against her lace covered pussy. "Want you too." She whimpered.

"Then lets do something about it, hm?" He teased moving to nip at the hickey already on her neck.

Bella moaned and moved her fingers down his body to the button on his jeans. With some difficulty, she removed the jeans from his waist, arching her eyebrow at him when she didn't see any boxers or briefs to remove. A chuckle from Jared had their eyes meeting.

"I always go commando, I told you that. Less laundry for me." He said with a smirk.

Bella nipped his neck. "I'm sure that's the only reason." She teased. She pushed him off of her long enough to reach around behind her and unsnap the hooks that kept her bra in place. When she lay back down, a smirk danced over her lips. "Well?" She arched her back when she felt his hands dancing upwards over her skin.

"Such a tease." He murmured. "Damn you're so gorgeous Bella." He moaned when her bra got pulled from her body. She lay under him in nothing more than a black lace thong with a smile on her face.

His lips teased her body, kissing any place he could reach. For a long while he toyed with her taunt nipples, running his tongue over each pert bud, adding to the pleasurable sensations racing through her body. His fingers tormented her as they moved her thong aside and danced over her clit in tight, slow circles, easing her ever closer to the edge of pure bliss.

"Jared, please. Don't tease me. I can't take it anymore, please baby I need you." Bella was nearly incoherent with a need to feel him. "Please just fuck me."

Jared growled and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "You have no idea how much I love hearing you beg for me. So fucking sexy." He whispered before nibbling on her earlobe. He kissed a trail down her body until he got to the last article of clothing left on her.

He pulled her thong down and off of her hips slow with his teeth. She propped herself up on her elbows to watch him kiss and nibble his way back up her leg. By the time his lips closed over her clit, her legs shook in need and desire.

"Bella, you taste so fucking good baby." Jared moaned as he licked her soaking wet slit from bottom to top and back down again. He smirked when she shivered.

"Jared, please… Mmm… please don't tease me. I wanna cum with you inside me." Bella whined.

"Alright. Alright. Spoil my fun." He teased before crawling off of her to reach into his nightstand drawer. Bella looked confused until she saw the foil packet he came away with in his hands. She smirked when an idea came to her.

"Let me?" She asked taking it from him. She pushed him onto his back before tearing the packet open. With a smirk, she had the condom against her lips and her mouth sliding down over his cock in one fluid movement.

Jared gasped at the unexpectedness of that one action. His entire length had been engulfed down her throat and she hadn't so much as choked once. "Holy fucking shit! Bella!"

She kissed her way up his body stopping to give his nipple ring a gentle tug which caused him to arch into her touch. "Problem?" She asked before sitting up and sinking herself down onto him.

"None at all… oh god…just like that babe…" He whined when she nearly unseated herself from him, pausing with only the tip of his blunt head still inside of her clenching heat.

Bella smirked. "Something wrong baby?" She asked seating herself just as slow.

Jared's head hit the pillow as he watched her. "Would it be bad if I told you I've had a fantasy about fucking my teacher?" He asked groaning when she was fully seated on him again.

Bella laughed and raised her hips, lowering herself ever so slow again. "Not at all. I've got an antique desk in my apartment whenever you want to live that one out babe." She whispered as she leaned over him.

His eyes rolled back into his head at her admission. "Sweet baby fucking Jesus. Baby girl, please don't tease me! God I want you so fucking bad."

Bella smirked. "Such a dirty mouth, Mr. Cameron. I'll give you a warning for now. Any more bad language and I'll have to issue you a detention. Is that understood?" She teased. Her voice held all the authority of a teacher and all the sexiness that Jared had come to love in his girlfriend.

Jared's hands moved to her hips, holding her steady as she built up a hard, fast rhythm. She stopped every so often to swivel her hips or just sit on his lap before starting up a hard, fast rhythm again. His eyes glazed over as pleasure ran wild through his body. A liquid fire danced its way down his spine to pool and simmer in his gut. He watched Bella riding him, watched as her head fell back and her breasts bounced as she raised and lowered herself over him. He shivered and fought to keep his eyes open. Looking down, he made the mistake of watching himself disappear into her each time she moved against him.

"I'm so close… Jay… please!" She whimpered.

He shivered again. The raw need and hunger for him sounded so evident in her voice. He licked his thumb and moved it to her clit as their eyes met. "Cum for me Bella. Come on baby. Let me see you cum." He cajoled, running tight circles around her little button of pleasure.

Bella's head was thrown backwards again, her walls fluttering around his hard length as their hips met in near brutal thrusts. "I-I'm… fuck… Jared!"

His dick was locked in a vice as she was sent head first into a pool of carnal bliss. He watched as Bella's body went rigid before he felt the waves of her release rush over him. Three more thrusts into her near limp body and his own release spilled over into the condom. Her name was on his lips as he came, his back arched off the bed towards her and his hands held her hips to him.

There were a few minutes when he got up, went to the bathroom to discard the condom he had worn and then finally came back with a glass of water for them to share. She merely smiled and dragged him back to her side. They let the stillness of the apartment wash over them in a blanket of comfortable quiet.

"You're so beautiful." He said after a few minutes of peaceful silence as she started to drift off to sleep.

Bella smiled and opened her eyes to look up at him. "You're hot too, Jay."

"You think so?" He teased.

"No. I know so." She said kissing him over his heart.

He smiled and cuddled her to him. "Move in with me Bella."

Bella sat up and looked down at him with a curious face. "What?"

"Move in with me. It's two doors down from one another. We wouldn't have to worry about sleeping in different beds since I'm always over there anyways or your always over here. We'd sleep a lot better than what our couches could afford us I'm sure." He mused.

Bella bit her lip and thought about it. "We HAVE known each other for the better part of 11 months even if we did dance around one another for the first two months or so…. It's not like you'd ever try to hurt me…and truth be told, I'm falling head over heels for you."

Jared grinned. "You are huh."

"Yeah. I am…in answer to your question… Alright. Yeah." She told him with a grin of her own.

His eyes lit up with happiness. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I've got a friend I can sublet my apartment to until the lease is ready to be renewed. She's been looking for a place of her own. After she moves in I'm all yours. It should only take a couple weeks, I'm sure she'd take the offer." She smiled and cuddled up to him, her head resting over his heart.

He kissed her head and let the silence lull him into a peaceful sleep. They drifted in the sandman's embrace oblivious to their friends texts and calls. They could wait until morning. If it was important, they would show up at his door. Paul and Sam both had a spare key each to Jared's apartment and Jared knew Paul had a spare key to his sisters apartment as well.

Jared's final thoughts were to thank the spirits for guiding him to Bella. She had become something good in his life when he'd started to think that he would be stuck with everything bad for a long while yet. He couldn't have been more thankful for her patience, her understanding, her wisdom… her love. He vowed that he'd do everything he could to try and be worthy of this great and wonderful gift. With that, his eyes closed and he fell into slumbers awaiting arms.